Hang rod assembly



Nov. 1, 1966 R. R. RUHNKE HANG ROD ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 5, 1964 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,282,548 HANG ROD ASSEMBLY Richard R. Rulmke, Skokie, 11]., assignor to Garey Corporation, a corporation of Hlinois Filed Dec. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 415,750 Claims. (Cl. 248243) This invention relates to a hang rod assembly, and is particularly concerned with an adapter secured to a support bracket with its outer end extending horizontally from the support bracket and shaped for interlocking engagement with a tubular hang rod.

The adapter is secured to the outer end portion of a support bracket by screws or any other suitable fastening means. The outer end of the adapter is provided with a shoulder on its upper surface and on its lower surface. The shoulders face in opposite directions and one of them facilitates proper positioning of the hang rod on the adapter. The other shoulder prevents accidental displacement of the hang rod after it has been positioned on the adapter.

The hang rod is tubular and is secured to the adapter by placing it against the outer end of the adapter and pressing it inwardly against the end of the adapter. The hang rod has sufiicient resilience so that a portion of it is forced over the shoulder facing inwardly of the adapter. At the same time another portion of the hang rod contacts the shoulder facing outwardly of the adapter. This last mentioned shoulder serves a dual function in the assembly. In addition to helping position the hang rod properly relative to the adapter, it prevents distortion of the hang rod under heavy load.

The structure by means of which the above mentioned and other advantages of the invention are attained is fully described in the following specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing two preferred illustrative embodiments of the invention, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a hang rod installation embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of the embodiment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view, similar to FIG. 2 of another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a plurality of support brackets 11 are mounted on pilasters 12 secure-d in upright position to the front of a wall or partition 13. Each support bracket comprises a flat metal strip having one end detachably anchored in vertically spaced slots 14 in the front wall of each pilaster. The support brackets are of uniform size, and their outer ends are in transverse alignment when they are secured to the pilasters.

In FIG. 2, an adapter 15 is provided with a shallow recess 16 adjacent its inner end shaped to conform to the shape of the outer end of support bracket 11. The adapter is positioned with its recessed portion juxtaposed against the outer end portion of the support bracket. The outer end 17 of the support bracket abuts a shoulder 18 at the front edge of recess 16, and the outermost portion of the upper edge 19 of the support bracket abuts another shoulder 20 at the upper edge of recess 16. The butting engagement of shoulders 18 and 20 with end 17 and edge 19 of the support bracket insures proper posi tioning of the adapter relative to the support bracket. The adapter is secured to the support bracket by screws 21 or any other suitable fastening means. The outer end portion 22 of adapter 15 extends outwardly from the support bracket in a horizontal direction. Outer end portion 22 has two shoulders 23 and 24 facing in opposite directions. Shoulder 23, on the top of the adapter, faces inwardly toward the support bracket, and shoulder 24, on

the lower surface of the outer end portion of the adapter, faces outwardly. If desired, shoulder 23 may be located on the lower surface of the adapter, and shoulder 24 may be on the top. The surface of shoulder 24 adapted to be engaged by part of a tubular hang rod 25 is shown as being curved to conform to the curvature of the portion of the hang rod that abuts against the shoulder, but it will be understood that the surface of shoulder 24 may be flat, or may have any suitable contour.

Hang rod 25 may be extruded, but preferably is formed by rolling the center portion of a metal strip into substantially cylindrical shape, and bending the longitudinal edges reversely inwardly of the cylindrical portion, as indicated at 26 and 27 to form two parallel walls 28 and 29. Hang rod 25 may have any desired tubular cross section. Walls 28 and 29 are spaced apart to engage the upper and lower surfaces of the outer end 30 of the adapter. These walls have some resilience because of the shape of the hang rod, regardless of the material of which the hang rod is made.

The hang rod may be positioned by sliding it from one end of the adapter, but is generally forced into place. Walls 28 and 29 are engaged with the outer end 30 of the adapter, and the hang rod is then pressed into place. Pressure exerted inwardly against the tubular hang rod moves wall 28 over the top of the adapter, and moves wall 29 along the lower .surface of the adapter. The curved portion 27 of hang rod 25 butts against shoulder 24 at the same time the free end 31 of wall 28 moves past shoulder 23. The hang rod has sufficient resiliency to cause wall 28 to snap into place.

The engagement of the hang rod with shoulders 23 and 24 prevents accidental displacement of the hang rod from the adapter in any direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of the hang rod. Even a heavy load applied to the hang rod will not deform it. The intermediate portion 32 of the adapter extends upwardly and outwardly from the outer end of the support bracket to space the top surface of the hang rod above the plane of the upper edge 19 of the support bracket. Intermediate portion 32 of the adapter is so shaped that when loaded garment hangers are slid along the hang rod, the hooks of said garment hangers cannot engage either said intermediate portion of the adapter or any part of the support brackets. Therefore the garment hangers may he slid freely along the length of the hang rod without any interference.

The inner end structure of the adapter 41, shown in FIG. 3, is the same as the inner end structure of adapter 15. Identical structure will be designated by the same reference numerals, and the description of such structure will not be repeated. Outer end portion 33 of adapter 41 is curved upwardly a short distance to form a shoulder 34 facing inwardly. The lower surface of outer end portion 33 is recessed throughout the width of the adapter to form a shoulder 35 facing outwardly.

Adapter 41 is particularly designed to receive a tubular hang rod 36 that has an outer peripheral surface consituting approximately three-fourths of a cylinder. Hang rod 36 is preferably rolled from one longitudinal edge of a metal strip for about three-fourths of the circumference of a cylinder. The other longitudinal edge portion of the metal strip is bent along two parallel longitudinal lines to form two walls 37 and 39 with a right angle corner 38 between them. Wall 37 extends inwardly from the periphery of the cylinder, and wall 39 extends from approximately the center of the cylinder to a point closely adjacent the inner surface of the cylindrical wall. Wall 37 is spaced from thelongitudinal edge of the cylindrical portion of the hang rod a distance approximately equal to the height of the adapter adjacent is outer end portion 33.

Hang rod 36 may be mounted on adapter 41 by sliding it from one end of the adapter, or it may be forced into place. Edge 40 of the hang rod may be placed against shoulder 35, and the hang rod may be rotated pivotally about shoulder 35 until corner 38 is snapped into place behind shoulder 34. The hang rod has sufiicient resilience to permit a slight spreading between edge 40 and corner 38 to facilitate mounting the hang rod on the outer end of the adapter. The engagement of corner 38 with shoulder 34 and of edge 40 with shoulder 35 prevents accidental displacement of the hang rod from the adapter in any direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of the hang rod.

Hang rod 36 will support a plurality of loaded garment hangers so that they can be slid freely along the length of the hang rod without interference, just as in the case of hang rod 25. Wall 39 serves to prevent deformation of hang rod 36 under heavy load, without impairing the resilience of the hang rod.

Although I have described two preferred embodiments of the invention in considerable detail, it will be understood that thedescription thereof is intended to be i1- lustrative, rather than restrictive, as many details of structure may be modified or changed without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, I do not desire to be restricted to the exact structure described.

I claim:

1. A hang rod assembly comprising an adapter and a tubular hang rod having an opening into which one end portion of said adapter extends, said hang rod being mounted on said one end portion of said adapter, said one end portion having shoulders facing in. opposite directions, said tubular hang rod having a portion extending inwardly of its periphery and engageable with one of said shoulders to prevent accidental displacement of said hang rod from said adapter in one direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of said'tubular hang rod and a second portion engageable with said other shoulder to prevent accidental displacement of said hang rod from said adapter in the opposite direction.

2. A hang rod assembly comprising an adapter and a tubular hang rod having an opening into which one end portion of said adapter extends, said hang rod being mounted on said one end portion of said adapter, said one end portion having shoulders on its upper and lower surfaces, said shoulders facing in opposite directions, said tubular hang rod having one portion engageable with one of said shoulders to facilitate positioning said tubular hang rod on said end portion, and having a second portion engageable with said other shoulder to prevent accidental displacement of said hang rod from said adapter in any direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of said tubular hang rod.

3. A hang rod assembly comprising an adapter and a tubular hang rod, said adapter having a horizontally disposed end portion and a shoulder projecting vertically from said end portion, said tubular hang rod having two vertically spaced walls defining a slot and extending inwardly from its outer surface and in engagement with opposite surfaces of said end portion, one of said vertically spaced walls having a free end abutting said shoulder to hold said hang rod against accidental displacement from said adapter in any direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of said hang rod.

4. A hang rod assembly comprising an adapter and a tubular hang rod, said adapter having a horizontally disposed end portion and a shoulder projecting vertically from the upper and lower surfaces of said end portion, said tubular hang rod having two vertically, spaced walls defining a slot and extending inwardly from its outer surface and in engagement with opposite surfaces of said end portion, said hang rod engaging one of said shoulders, one of said vertically spaced walls having a free end abutting said other shoulder to hold said hang rod against accidental displacement from said adapter in any direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of said hang rod.

5. A hang rod assembly comprising an adapter and a tubular hang rod with a slot therein, said adapter having a horizontally disposed end portion having a shoulder on its lower surface facing in one direction and a second shoulder on its upper surface facing in the opposite direction, said tubular hang rod having a portion adjacent said slot engageable with one of said shoulders to facilitate positioning said tubular hang rod on said horizontally disposed end portion, said tubular hang rod having a resilient wall extending inwardly of the slot and adapted to be moved over said other shoulder as said first mentioned hang rod portion is moved into engagement with said first mentioned shoulder, the free end of said resilient wall being adapted to snap into position in abutting engagement with said last mentioned shoulder as it passes over it, said abutting engagement of the free end of said wall and said last mentioned shoulder preventing accidental displacement of said tubular hang rod from said adapter in any direction transverse of the longitudinal axis of said tubular hang rod.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,106,420 1/ 1938 Alphin 248252 2,512,203 6/1950 Fluharty 211-123 2,710,695 6/1955 Mazany 211-1053 2,783,961 3/1957 Weber 248243 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,345,723 11/1963 France.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner. 

3. A HANG ROD ASSEMBLY COMPRISING AN ADAPTER AND A TUBULAR HANG ROD, SAID ADAPTER HAVING A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED END PORTION AND A SHOULDER PROJECTING VERTICALLY FROM SAID END PORTION, SAID TUBULAR HANG ROD HAVING TWO VERTICALLY SPACED WALLS DEFINING A SLOT AND EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM ITS OUTER SURFACE AND IN ENGAGEMENT WITH OPPOSITE SURFACES OF SAID END PORTION, ONE OF SAID VERTICALLY SPACED WALLS HAVING A FREE END ABUTTING SAID SHOULDER TO HOLD SAID HANG ROD AGAINST ACCIDENTAL DISPLACEMENT FROM SAID ADAPTER IN ANY DIRECTION TRANSVERSE OF THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID HANG ROD. 